Today the State Bar released the fourth report in a series of studies designed to examine the decline in pass rates on the California Bar Exam. The report, Performance Changes on the California Bar Examination, uses detailed data on over 7,000 students who took the Bar Exam in July 2013, 2016, and 2017. Between 2013 and 2016, the pass rate on the exam fell from 56 percent to 43 percent. In 2017, the pass rate rebounded slightly, to 50 percent; it declined again in July 2018 to 40.7 percent.

The first California-specific study of the knowledge and skills needed by entry-level attorneys gets underway December 19, 2018, with a public meeting at the State Bar offices in San Francisco. The California Attorney Practice Analysis will set the foundation for revisiting the California Bar Exam pass line and content, as well as exam format and other aspects of the test.